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Instagram creator vs business account

When Instagram first launched, your only option was to create a personal profile. Now, however, you have more freedom as to what type of account you want to run.

In addition to a personal account you could opt for a Business Account or Creator Account.

In this post you’ll understand what features each account type has to help you decide which suits you best.

Instagram Creator Account

The Creator Account is the newest account offering from Instagram. It's perfect for anyone who wants greater control over their online presence. It also gives you access to data and insights to help you manage and understand your growth. To get a greater understanding of your follower growth, you can map the growth of your audience to your individual posts to see what content resonates best with your followers.

The Creator Account is perfect if you’re an artist, athlete, influencer, public figure or content creator.

The Creator account gives you a secondary inbox with ‘primary’ and ‘general’ tabs you can use this to segment and organise your messages as well as control which DMs you’re notified about. In addition, you’ll be able to set ‘quick replies’ to help you respond to a potential influx of direct messages.

Set up a Creator Account

If you have an existing personal or business profile, you can easily convert it into a Creator Account.

Keep in mind that once you switch your account to a creator account, it’ll become public. If you currently have pending follow requests (on a private profile) these will be automatically accepted once you’ve switched your account.

To switch your account:

Log into your Instagram profile

Click settings

Click account

Select “switch to professional account”

Then click “Creator”

Once you’ve done this, you’ll have the option to choose your category. Choose one that best describes exactly what you do.

At this stage you should also connect your new Creator Account to your Facebook page.

Finally, check your contact information is correct. You’ll need to provide at least one form of contact info, however you’ll have the option to hide or display this on your profile.

Instagram Business Account

Running an Instagram profile for your business can have a wealth of benefits. By building a loyal following on Instagram for your business, you increase the number of people who will take action such as visiting your site, shopping or searching for you online.

If you’re not interested in a personal account or creator account, why not try a business account instead? Using an Instagram business account gives you additional insights about your content (story and on-feed) as well as your follower demographics.

Step-by-step: setting up an Instagram Business Account

If you’ve never used Instagram before, you’ll need to download the app. The app is available on iOS and Android.

If you want to use an Instagram Business Account, you must connect your Facebook business page.

Open settings, then account

Scroll down and select “Switch to business account”

Choose which Facebook page you’d like to connect and click “ok”.

NOTE: If you’re unable to complete this step, it’s because you’re not an admin on the specific Facebook business page.

The Instagram business profile gives you access to analytics specifically about your followers and posts.

You’ll be able to promote your posts as adverts and schedule your story and on-feed content with third party scheduling tools.

To help you decide which profile is right for you, why not check out our handy flowchart.

Final thoughts

With influencer marketing and social media changing daily, it’s no wonder we’re starting to see the evolution of creator profiles. It’s a clear indication that Instagram sees the level of maturity the influencer marketing industry has reached.

For a long time, influencers and content creators were forced to use business accounts, despite many not in operating in traditional business settings.

The arrival of the creator account is Instagram’s solution for influencers to leverage the additional functionalities of the tool.